The Breakdown Of Tony Stark
by Secret.Admirer4
Summary: What happens when Tony Stark loses the person he loves due to a dangerous battle?


IronHawk. This has nothing to do with the battle that happened during the Avengers movie. It is another mission. I own nothing.

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The sky was dark and the air was cold. New York City had been evacuated due to the zombie-like aliens invading the area. The Avengers were spread throughout the city in pairs, taking down as much of the aliens as possible. Tony Stark and Clint Barton had been paired together, they having chosen each other. They were stuck inside a boarded up warehouse in the middle of the city, trying to keep from the overwhelming numbers. Both of them had been a mess from days of battle. They'd both been low on sleep, not to mention not having eaten much. Tony walked around the warehouse, checking the windows. His Iron Man suit was running low on energy, but he had his hands at the ready in case he needed to use them. Clint finished boarding up a window and took a seat on a table. He pressed his fingers to his earpiece, speaking to Steve Rogers.

"Rogers, we're stuck here for a while." He waited for a reply.

A crackling sound came through the little earpiece before Clint could understand what Steve was saying. "Stand by; we're working on a plan."

Clint sighed heavily and looked up at Tony. "Hopefully this place holds up," he stated as he looked around the building.

Tony looked down at Clint. "I'm really hoping so too," he said. He bent down and grabbed a metal pole, swinging it around. "Jesus Christ, this is getting ridiculous."

Clint nodded. "SHIELD will want to blast this place apart."

Tony rolled his eyes. "They better get us out of here before they do so. Why they thought six people could take down an entire city of zombie aliens is beyond be." He sat down. "JARVIS, what's the area like?"

"The aliens are coming your way, sir."

Clint scoffed. "Tell us something we don't know," he said as he began cleaning some of his arrows.

Tony sighed heavily. "This is getting to be very annoying."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Thor said he got their source, though. So whatever is in the city is all we need to pick off," Clint stated as he continued cleaning up.

Tony groaned, "Which is still hundreds of these things. And they're fast fuckers too."

Clint nodded and walked up to a poorly boarded up window, peering out of looked up at him. "How close are they?" he asked.

Clint focused hard to see some in the distance. He was having a harder time focusing, considering his lack of sleep. Suddenly, a power arm broke through the thin wooden walls of the warehouse and scratched Clint's arm deeply. He backed away as quickly as possible and shot the alien dead.

"Clint!" Tony quickly ran to Clint, making sure he was okay. "Are you okay, Clint?"

"Board up the wall!" Clint shouted as he grabbed the scratch, stumbling down and falling. Tony nodded as he quickly turned and fixed the wall, easily boarding it back up.

He turned back around, facing Clint. "Clint? Clint, how are you feeling?"

"Uh.." Clint sat up, examining the wound. "I'm fine. My arm feels horrible…tingly. Is it..Is it too deep?"

Tony looked worried. "JARVIS? Examine the wound."

JARVIS scanned the wound through the electronics on Tony's helmet. He spoke quickly. "Sir, it is a very deep and deadly wound. Apply medication to it as soon as possible. There is a foreign substance in his bloodstream."

Clint cursed under his breath. "Tony, it's… Fuck, it burns." He began swearing more as he moved to a wall to sit up against. His arm already had an infected look and he began to shiver. "This works fast, Tony. We don't have the medicine."

Tony stared at Clint, his eyes wide. He whispered to his helmet. "JARVIS, is this killing him?"

JARVIS replied, "Sir, his body will start shutting down eventually."

"JARVIS, how long…?" Clint asked, a solemn tone to his voice. There was a long pause before JARVIS spoke up. "It reaches the brain in an hour."

Clint looked back up at Tony. "Tony, we don't have the medicine. Any Medicine."

Tony frowned deeply. "Clint? Let's get out of here. I have enough power to fly some place. Come on. You can't…not here."

"Don't waist the power, Tony; you won't be able to get yourself out." Clint stated. He was quite pale by then, shivering harder than before. He still clutched at his arm.

Tony got up and walked to Clint, still frowning. He pulled his helmet off and leaned down, kissing Clint's forehead. "I won't leave you."

Clint's lips were blue, and his body was sweating. He looked up at Tony.

Tony continued speaking, his voice at a whisper. "I love you, Clint. I love you so much. I'm not upset at you. This isn't your fault. You've had so little sleep, and you've been so brave. I'm so proud of you, and soon you won't be in pain. You'll never have to worry about anything. I love you, okay?"

Clint interrupted him. "Stop, Tony. Stop saying that stuff- I don't want to die."

Tony took a deep breath and looked at the ground. "Alright, I'm sorry."

Clint spoke weakly, "Come… Come hold me, please. My arm is on fire."

Tony immediately took his suit off and sat next to Clint. He pulled Clint to him, holding him as close as possible.

Clint spoke up again. "I'm…I'm really sorry. For everything. I'm sorry I let my mentor touch me in the circus, that you weren't my first. I'm sorry I hide from you in the vents. I'm sorry you spent all that money on me. I'm sorry I'm dying."

Tony remained calm, trying to keep his composure. "No… Clint, no. Don't apologize. You don't need to apologize. I promise, it's okay."

Clint continued to shiver, his eyes tearing up. "No-I really am sorry."

Tony held Clint's head against his chest, trying to fight back tears. He attempted to swallow the huge lump in his throat before speaking. "It isn't your fault. It's not."

"It is. Don't say it isn't," Clint argued.

"Clint, stop. Please stop." Clint began sweating more. His wound and the skin around it began turning black. "Look, I love you, okay?"Tony blurted.

"…Do you?" Clint asked.

Tony nodded. "I love you so much more than anything I have ever loved."

Tears began sliding down Clint's face. "I'm sorry, Tony."

"I'm going to tell you a story, okay? One of the happier stories of my childhood. My tenth birthday." Tony wiped his eyes and tried to remain calm. "How does that sound?" He asked.

"Please…" Clint said.

Tony took a deep breath before speaking. "When I was a child, I was a huge fan of Captain America's. I mean, he was my favorite character, right? That was until I knew him as Steve." Tony smiled slightly before continuing. "Anyways, my entire room was decorated in Captain America things. My comforter, everything. So it's the morning of my tenth birthday. I'm not expecting my father to come home or anything." Tony glanced down at Clint. "And he wakes me up to tell me happy birthday. I can't tell you how excited and happy I was to see his face. I had presents strewn all over the floor, but I only wanted to open the one my father had. So I did, and it was a Captain America action figure. I still remember how elated I was. He stayed in my bedroom all day with me and played with me. That's probably one of my favorite birthdays by far."

Clint smiled the entire time Tony spoke. He laughed lightly before speaking. "Want to hear…my favorite birthday?"

"Yes, absolutely," Tony said as he kissed the top of Clint's head.

Clint began his story. "The last birthday I ha-I mean… I guess my last birthday ever was with you and the team. And you… You took me out to dinner and didn't make me dress up. And we watched movies till we fell asleep. We didn't even have sex to make it special, you just... were the best. You ARE the best. And I love you."

Tony smiled at Clint. "Yeah? You're the best, too. I love you so much."

JARVIS interrupted, "Sir, his vitals."

"JARVIS, don't talk to me about his health anymore." Tony looked down at Clint. Clint was shivering worse than ever, soaked in sweat and looking horribly pale.

"T-tony. Tony." He murmured.

Tony's tears started to fall. "Clint, shh. Close your eyes, okay? Think of happier things."

Clint closed his eyes slowly. "Yes, Tony. I love you. I love you, Tony."

"I love you too, Clint. I absolutely love you so much."

Clint smiled weakly. "The pain's fading away. I'm lighter. Maybe I'm getting better…" He kept his eyes closed.

Tony closed his own eyes. "Yeah, maybe you are." He held Clint closer, trying to stay calm for him.

Clint's breathing slowed down more and more. He managed to speak quietly. "…Thank you…" Suddenly, Clint stopped breathing.

Tony couldn't believe it. "Clint? Clint, no. Come on. Come back. I'm so sorry. This isn't fair. Fuck, this isn't fair. I love you so much." Tony's tears began to fall harder. He held Clint to him, crying hard. He wasn't fighting back the sobs anymore. His heart was broken into a thousand pieces. He never thought in a million years he'd be able to feel this much pain. It hurt him so much. This was the worst breakdown Tony had ever experienced. He sighed deeply.

His earpiece went off. It was Steve. "Stark? Stark what happened? I'm on my way."

Tony stayed silent as he continued to sob, not being able to control it anymore.

Suddenly, Steve burst through the wall, the aliens all gone. He ran over and looked at the limp body. "Why-..How'd he get knocked out?"

Tony was unable to say it. "JARVIS…"

JARVIS spoke up, understanding. "Agent Barton is dead, sir."

Steve looked from Tony to the body, his body stiffening. He walked out of the building, mumbling. "I…I'll tell the team."

Tony looked up at Steve. "No, wait…" He laid the body down momentarily to get into his suit. He picked Clint up and walked to Steve. "Come on, I'll go with you."

"Go lay him down. I'm calling them." Steve said as he pressed into his ear, telling the teammates their position. He walked back inside with Tony, and Tony laid him down. He looked down at the body, trying to hold back sobs. And there he and Steve stood while waiting for the rest of their teammates.


End file.
